BILL NUMBER: SB 596 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 6, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alpert
(Principal coauthor: Senator Costa)
(Coauthors: Senators Hayden and Hughes)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Kuehl, Lowenthal, and Mazzoni)
FEBRUARY 23, 1999
An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
11759.20) to Part 1 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to health. An act to add Chapter 16
(commencing with Section 18998.10) to Part 6 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to youth.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 596, as amended, Alpert. California Volunteer Mentor
Youth Development Partnership Act.
Existing law requires the State Department of Alcohol and Drug
Programs within the California Health and Human Services Agency to
perform various duties in administering programs for the prevention
and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse.
This bill would enact the California Volunteer Mentor
Youth Development Partnership Act. The bill
would establish the Office of Youth Development Services to serve as
the lead entity for mentoring programs and other youth-development
strategies, to provide guidance and assistance to departments who
receive state funds for mentoring programs and other youth-serving
programs, and to promote volunteer mentor and related programs
through direct implementation or through contracts with
community-based organizations, school districts, the private sector
and nonprofit organizations or in cooperation with other state
agencies. The bill also would establish the Governor's Policy
Council on Youth Development that would consist of representatives
from various state agencies, departments, and boards.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11759.20) is added
to Part 1 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6. CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEER MENTOR
SECTION 1. Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 18998.10) is added
to Part 6 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to
read:
CHAPTER 16. CALIFORNIA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP ACT
11759.20.
18998.10. (a) This chapter shall be know and may be cited
as the California Volunteer Mentor Youth
Development Partnership Act.
11759.21.
(b) The purpose of this chapter is to create a Governor's Policy
Council on Youth Development and an Office of Youth Development
Services to support the work of the council, whose collective goal
shall be to provide state level leadership, coordination, and
collaboration in support of youth development. The council will
identify strategies, conduct planning, and facilitate changes that
improve the life chances of California's youth.
(c) The initial youth development efforts of the council and the
office will focus on mentoring, and build upon five years of
California Mentoring Initiative successes. The capacity building and
coordination achieved by mentoring efforts shall then be used as a
model as the council expands its focus to other youth development
strategies and issue areas.
18998.11. (a) The Legislature finds that California's
children are growing up under conditions of great stress that are
resulting in devastating effects on their development and well-being.
Structural changes in society, including the breakdown in the
traditional family and erosion of neighborhood community support
networks, have taken a toll on their welfare, self-esteem, and
academic achievement. While youth struggle with many difficulties,
four risk factors stand out: academic failure, substance abuse,
involvement in the criminal justice system, and teen pregnancy. To
address these challenges, the State of California recognizes quality
mentoring as a critical prevention strategy, not as a panacea for the
aforementioned problems, but as a cost-effective method of assisting
today's at-risk youth to become productive, contributing members of
society. Research finds that without the caring support, counsel,
and role modeling of more experienced individuals or exposure to
natural support networks, young people are much more vulnerable to
the destructive forces of apathy, abuse, and neglect. As we
acknowledge the increasing numbers of children who do not have the
benefit of positive relationships, there has been an increasing
recognition of the value of mentoring, an activity that connects a
caring and more experienced person with a young person who is in need
of attention and support and in need of mentor-rich
environments that would expand the world of positive adult contacts
for youth in their natural environments and support
. As a way to maximize public resources, mentoring is both
efficient and effective, relying on volunteers as the core service
providers to create collateral improvements in the lives of youth.
The public investment in the prevention strategy of mentoring has
inspired significant private support at the local level.
Mentoring principles may also be used to create mentor-rich
environments wherever youth and adults interact on a regular basis,
thereby effectively expanding the world of positive adult contacts
for youth in their natural environments.
(b) The complexities of supporting mentoring organizations
requires the coordinated and sustained support of many private and
public sector organizations to ensure that their services are
available to all young persons who wish to have a mentor. To meet
the needs of each at-risk young person, mentor services should be
available in communities throughout California and mentor-rich
environments should be created wherever young people and adults
interact on a regular basis. It is the intent of the legislature and
the purpose of this chapter to foster a partnership between the
public and private sector for the long-term support of quality mentor
programs and mentor-rich environments in which young people can
interact on a regular basis with an array of caring adults.
(c) Mentoring California's youth has been carried on by thousands
of dedicated volunteers through local mentor organizations and with
the very significant contributions of the business community in both
time and money. State and local government agencies also operate
mentor programs. However, the need far outweighs the current
resources. The valuable potential services of many caring adults and
older youth continue to go untapped while the waiting list of
children in need continues to grow, and distant youth-adult
relationships continue to exist where developmental youth-adult
relationships could flourish.
11759.22.
18998.12. (a) It is the goal of the Legislature that every
young person in California shall have access to a quality mentoring
relationship. This shall be accomplished by sustaining or growing
the state's resources under the auspices of the California Volunteer
Mentor Partnership Act, to the extent those resources are available.
The Legislature recognizes the efforts of state departments who have
supported local mentor programs under the California Mentor
Initiative, including the State Department of Alcohol and Drug
Programs, the California Conservation Corps, the Department of the
Youth Authority, the Commission on Improving Life Through Service,
the Department of Community Services and Development, the State
Department of Education, the State Department of Health Services, the
Department of Justice, the Office of the Secretary for Education,
and the Office of Criminal Justice Planning. This base of support
shall be sustained or increased predicated upon the performance
outcomes in successfully addressing the four risk factors.
(b) It is also the goal of the Legislature that consideration be
directed towards identifying opportunities for increased private
sector investment in the support and expansion of mentoring.
11759.24.
18998.13. (a) There is hereby created in the executive
branch of state government, the Office of Youth Development Services.
The office shall consist of individuals who have experience in
youth development with mentoring and or
other youth-serving programs, are familiar with the state process of
supporting and expanding those programs at the community level, have
the ability to incorporate best practices, and can provide technical
assistance.
(b) There is hereby created the Governor's Policy Council on Youth
Development. The council shall include, but not be limited to, a
designee from each of the following:
(1) The departments and agencies identified in subdivision
(a) of Section 11759.22, a designee from the office of the
Section 18998.12.
(2) The office of the Attorney General, the California
Health and Human Services Agency, the Department of Finance, the
State Department of Social Services, the State Department of Mental
Health, the California State University, the University of
California, the Chancellor's office of the California Community
Colleges, and a representative of the Workforce Investment Board.
The designees
(c) The designees selected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall
be in a management and decisionmaking position within their office
or department so that they are able to fully represent their
director.
11759.26.
18998.14. For purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "At-risk youth" means an individual under 18 years of age
whose environment increases their chance of academic failure, alcohol
and other drug use, involvement in the criminal justice system, or
teen pregnancy.
(b) "Council" means the Governor's Policy Council on Youth
Development as described in subdivision (b) of Section
11759.24 18998.13 .
(c) "Mentoring" means a relationship over a period of time in
which caring and concerned adults and older youth provide support,
guidance, and help to younger at-risk persons as they go through
life.
(d) "Mentor-rich environments" are environments that create many
opportunities for young people to interact with an array of caring
adults and where youth feel respected, connected, and affirmed.
(e) "Office" means the Office of Youth Development Services.
11759.28.
18998.14. (a) The Legislature finds that direct mentor
services, and the support for those services, are provided by
hundreds of public and private, state, and local organizations, and
that mentoring principles guide youth-adult relationships in many
organizational settings. It also finds a continuing need for
effective coordination of these efforts in a manner that will
maximize benefit to local programs, to other youth-serving
organizations, and, consequently, to the youth who rely on their
support.
(b) The Office of Youth Development Services shall be the lead
coordinating body within state government for mentoring programs and
other youth-development youth development
strategies, such as prevention and intervention and other
programs and services for youth as identified by the council ,
and for providing guidance and assistance to departments who receive
state funds for mentoring programs and other youth-serving programs.
The office shall, with the assistance and guidance of the council,
establish collaborative arrangements and coordinating functions among
and between these offices and departments with the goals to maximize
resources, share best practices, and increase opportunities for
youth.
(c) One of the first goals of the office and the council shall be
to develop and implement a data collection system for mentor programs
that shall include a consolidated process for grant applications,
methods of tracking mentors and mentees, and a uniform evaluation
process that results in a reduction in paperwork and the multiple
reports that local programs have to complete.
11759.30.
18998.15. The Governor shall designate the office, in
collaboration with the council, as the lead entity in state
government to nurture and support , until it is no longer
necessary, a public and private partnership the goal of
which is to advance and increase the positive role of mentoring for
young persons and the application of mentoring principles wherever
youth and adults interact. The office shall promote the following
through direct implementation or through contracts with qualified
community-based organizations, school districts, nonprofit
organizations, and the private sector or in cooperation with other
state departments and agencies and other programs and services
for youth as identified by the council :
(a) The adoption of quality assurance standards by school- and
community-based mentor programs.
(b) The provision of mentor program technical assistance.
(c) The provision of technical assistance to any organization that
wishes to improve youth-adult relationships.
(d) The provision of a mentor program clearinghouse and library
service.
(e) The preparation and periodic updating of a statewide directory
of mentor program services.
(f) The provision of mentor program referrals to the general
public.
(g) The coordination of the state employee mentor recruitment
campaign.
(h) The development of a coordinated and coherent reporting form
and requirements.
(i) (1) In order to obtain funding appropriated by the
Legislature, mentor programs shall have adopted the California Mentor
Initiative Quality Assurance Standards and shall provide data
regarding mentee outcomes as requested by the state funding agencies
consistent with subdivision (h).
(2) Adopted in 1997, the Quality Assurance Standards can be found
in the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs Publication
Number 99-1121. The requirements of these standards are summarized
as follows:
(A) A statement of purpose and a long-range plan.
(B) A recruitment plan for both mentors and mentees.
(C) An orientation for mentors and mentees.
(D) Eligibility screening for mentors and mentees.
(E) A readiness and training curriculum for all mentors and
mentees.
(F) A strategy that matches the provider program's purpose.
(G) A monitoring program that includes ongoing assessment.
(H) A support, recognition, and retention component, including
ongoing peer support, training, and development.
(I) Closure steps that include confidential exit interviews.
(J) An evaluation process based on an outcome analysis of the
mentor program, program criteria, and statement of purpose.
(j) (1) The office shall report annually, no later than March 1,
to the Senate Select Committee on Family, Child, and Youth
Development and the Senate and Assembly Committees on Education. The
report shall address both of the following:
(A) The progress of and outcomes achieved by the
California Volunteer Mentor Partnership Act. this
chapter.
(B) The progress in achieving private sector involvement in the
support of the California Mentor Initiative and mentor programs
, and other youth-serving programs and services as identified by the
council .
(2) State agencies participating in the funding of mentor programs
shall provide data and cooperate with the agency in the development
of the report.
11759.32.
18998.16. The office shall support, promote and
periodically update as needed, standards that serve to ensure that
mentor programs represent the highest standard of quality, safety,
and performance. The quality assurance standards adopted in 1997 by
the California Mentor Coalition under the auspices of the California
Mentor Initiative are the standards in use today by the state
department investors. All state funded quality mentor programs and
those funded by the state with federal funds shall adopt the quality
assurance standards.
11759.34.
18998.17. (a) The office, along with its public and private
partners, shall promote a coherent strategy for directing public
support for mentor programs and other programs as identified by
the council . Consideration shall be given to the following in
regards to the public effort:
(a)
(1) The extent of existing publicly funded services for
support of mentor programs within the state, and within each area of
the state, including the numbers and types of persons receiving
services.
(b)
(2) The extent of service needs of mentor programs and the
gap between existing public and private resources available to meet
those needs.
(c)
(3) The priorities for program development or expansion
which shall take into consideration the specific objectives of
programs to be developed, amount and sources of funding, timing, and
organizations responsible for implementation.
(b) As other youth development strategies or program areas are
added to the work of the office and council, they shall share in the
same goal of improving environments, opportunities, and programs.